"No!" Came the shriek.
Cremia sat right up, awoken by the cry. She searched her bedside table with her hand for the matches. Brushing against them, she grabbed them, and expertly lit a candle. The warm light filled the room, and Cremia was able to see her little sister clearly.
Romani was sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes and crying. Cremia got up and sat next to her sister, pulling her into her arms.
"Sh, sh. It was just a harmless dream, Romani. Shh, Romani." She cradled the girl gently. Romani's cries subsided to a whimper, and then stopped altogether.
Cremia held the girl at arm's length. "You okay?"
"I… Romani thinks so." She sniffled.
"Anything bothering you?"
Romani began to cry again, and buried her face into her sister's arms. "They stole the cows. And they stole Romani away from you. They stole Romani away!" She cried.
"No, they didn't. It's just a dream. You're here with me, and so are the cows. You want to go see them?"
Romani looked at her sister, searching her eyes. "No. Romani wants to go back to sleep. Can she… can she sleep in your bed?"
Cremia sighed. "Romani, we've been over this. You're a big girl now, and-"
"Please?" Romani interrupted.
Cremia's gaze softened, and she patted Romani's knee. "Tell you what: Go back to sleep in your own bed, and if you have another nightmare, you can sleep with me."
Romani's eyes shined.
"And no faking."
Cremia was inside, doing the dishes, thinking about the bridesmaid dress she was going to have to wear to Anju's wedding. Cremia sighed. She would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. Kafei was a good man, and he wasn't bad-looking, either.
Cremia finished the dishes, and opened the door to go milk the cows. Outside was Romani, with a boy! Cremia hesitated in the doorway, trying to hear what they were saying. "Grasshopper… help… they come at 2… waiting… Don't be late!" And the boy ran off.
Romani skipped inside, humming.
"Who was that?" Cremia asked.
"Grasshopper! He's going to help Romani defeat them!"
"Them? Romani…"
"Big sister! They really are coming! Believe Romani!"
Cremia sighed. "Okay, Romani."
Cremia was conflicted. Romani was convinced that some sort of aliens came every night. She had always talked about it, every Carnival of Time, ever since their father died. She always went on about how the cows were going to be taken if Romani didn't protect them. But every time, they were always there. One time, Cremia even stayed up until 1:30 AM, but nothing came (she had fallen asleep by then).
Maybe she's just lost in her imagination, Cremia thought.
Cremia was awoken by a scream. Feeling for the matches, she groaned, "Not another nightmare…"
When the candle was lit, Cremia turned to look at her little sister. But there was no crying little girl. There wasn't even a little girl.
Cremia sighed. This is too far. Where is she? Protecting the cows? She pulled on her robe, and shuffled downstairs. When she opened the front door, she gasped.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
There was her little sister, screaming. A beam of light was sucking her towards some sort of floating boat. There were ghostly figures all around, with light beams shining from their eyes. Cremia felt like screaming, but she couldn't. She could only watch in horror as her sister disappeared into the floating ship.
The ghosts were getting closer to her, as they had seen her now. Cremia spotted her little sister's bow a few feet away. Cremia grabbed it, and ripped open the crate of arrows it was laying next to. She shot at the ghost approaching her, and watched as it evaporated.
She shot a few more aliens, and then retreated inside. She heard a huge POP, and then silence. A rooster crowed, but there were no expectant cow moos. Cremia sat still on the floor, stunned. She couldn't even get up to check the barn. She knew it would be empty.
Cremia couldn't even cry. She just sat, and waited. Hoping, hoping Romani would come back to her. Or at least the cows.
She was sure they were gone. But it didn't matter anymore.
A knock sounded on the door. Cremia opened it, and gasped. She fell to her knees and pulled her little sister into her arms, and hugged her tightly. But instead of the expectant sobs, there was no sound.
Cremia pulled away from her little sister, and put one hand on her shoulder, the other on her cheek. "Romani? Romani, are you okay? What did they do to you, girlie?"
Romani just stared.
"Romani? Romani. Answer Cremia." She could hear the strain and fear in her own voice.
Romani pulled away from Cremia, and went out the door. Tears slid down Cremia's cheeks as she watched Romani take her place near the now-broken crate, and just stand, disoriented. "What… what did they do to you?" Cremia whispered.
Romani wasn't coherent with her answers, and it saddened Cremia to try to speak to her, so she stopped trying. She went to look at the damage in the barn. Seeing it made her cry.
The roof was torn off. The cows were gone. There was a single chicken.
Cremia felt her thoughts spinning out of control, and she started to subconsciously mutter.
"What shall we do? Our precious cows… If I thought it would come to this, then… What Romani said, I should have… If I knew it would come to this, I would have never…"
Cremia didn't even realize the small, green-clothed boy standing in front of her.
If only I could turn back the clock…
Cremia fell out of her thoughts into reality. The boy had something in his hand, to his lips.
An ocarina.
Cremia recognized that song somehow…
It was the Song of Time.